Confessions Eclipse
by DarkConfessor
Summary: A strange and powerful man from the future may be the only person who can save not only the Midlands, but the future of the Mother Confessor and the Seeker. Original character, Multi-chapter piece, in-progress. Comments and feedback much appreciated.
1. Prologue

As he knelt on an altar in the dark room surrounded by the onlookers, Aryan watched them all. With his gift he sensed out each one, making sure that they were ready to do what needed to be done. An old wizened man, who had been watching the twenty-two year old wizard, stepped forward holding a book in one hand, and a strange jewel encrusted scepter in the other.

"Are you prepared Aryan?"

He looked at his old friend with as much warmth as he could muster under the circumstances.

"I am, Wizard Zorander, please start the ritual."

With a flare of torchlight several women dressed in flowing read garments, Sisters of the Light, circled round and took hands, beginning a chant. As a web of light erupted around Aryan, Zeddicus Zul'Zorander, First Wizard of the Midlands, struck the altar with the scepter. The scepter broke asunder and with a burst of fiery light, the young wizard was gone.

Wizard Zorander stood stoically looking at the place where the most important person to the future of all the New World once stood, while the Sisters untangled themselves from the blast of Subtractive and Additive magic released by the scepter.

"May the good spirits protect him, for all of our sake."

The Prelate of the Sisters of the Light, Verna Sauventreen stepped forward. She held a large book in her hands.

"Zeddicus, the constructed spell contained within the scepter should send the boy back to just before the events of our undoing took place. Hopefully with our assistance, we can lead them through the event and down the correct fork in the prophecy, before the Seeker was taken and the Mother Confessor was killed."


	2. Chapter 1

**Hello all, this is the first full chapter of this story. I hope you enjoy it, there are many more to come!**

Chapter 1

Kahlan Amnell crouched behind a large stone waiting patiently. She had been tracking for hours and was finally going to be rewarded for her wait. The bushes on the other side of the rock began to shake and a large deer stepped out, with great skill and precision the Mother Confessor of the Midlands strung up her bow and prepared a shot, which would pierce the beast's left side, right through the heart. In that instant, Kahlan paused allowing the doe to jump into the brush and get away.

She looked up as there was a rustling behind her. Cara had caught up.

"I see I missed all of the fun, why did you let it get away?"

Kahlan looked at the Mord-Sith and smiled, "I couldn't kill a mother, she was pregnant."

Cara looked disdainfully toward where the doe had got away.

Kahlan looked back the way that Cara had come as she unstrung her bow. "Where's Richard? I thought he was with you?"

Cara smirked as she handed Kahlan her pack. "I left the men to set up camp back a mile, I told them to let the women hunt for a change."

Kahlan laughed as she put on her pack, thinking about Richard often made her laugh. It was a refreshing experience, and one that was rare for a Confessor. She knew that she loved the Seeker; however, due to her power of Confession, they could never be together in the common sense. It was a struggle at times for her to contain herself when she was around him, she often found herself having visions of a future that could never be. With a sigh she began to pick her way through the forest behind Cara.

As they drew closer to the camp, Kahlan smelled the distinct smell of Wizard's Fire. Looking up she spotted smoke rising from the direction they were headed. Cara, having already dropped her pack, had started running. Kahlan did the same, running through the branches of the dense forest, her white Confessor's dress billowed around her as she ran.

When she arrived at the sight of the camp, the scene was a complete mess, there was a ring of bodies, and yet there were still more men around.

Richard stood in the center of the ring swinging the Sword of Truth with a vengeance. Zedd was blasting men away with Wizard's Fire.

The men appeared to be random bandits, but their numbers were too great. Kahlan assessed the number to be somewhere in the upper forties. A man saw her and yelled to his comrades. The men immediately changed tactics and began to make their way toward her.

Kahlan pulled her knives from under the folds of her dress and ran toward the oncoming men. They met with great force; Kahlan felt one of her knives pierce a man's chest, with the other slicing through his arm. With the swiftness she had inherited from her father, she brought around the knife again killing several men, slashing and cutting through their weak armor. She wondered if they knew who she was; it was obvious that they had no consideration for her touch, as they kept trying to grab her.

She had made the decision to wait for just the right moment to Confess one of the men, and so hadn't released her power yet. She could feel the power aching to be released, and with one final stab at a man, another made to grab her around the middle. With a sudden flick of her hand she dropped one of her knives and grabbed the man by the throat.

Time became hers, to the man it seemed to stop, but the Mother Confessor knew that in a sudden release of power he would cease to exist as he had been. The power bubbled just below the surface, and with a thought she released the waiting flow of magic. There was an eruption of power that sent a shockwave through the area, and thunder with no sound. As she looked into his eyes her pupils dilated, as did his. He fell to his knees.

"Command me, Mother Confessor."

Kahlan looked at him with disdain, which she knew would cause him emotional grief. "Fight these men and protect us."

"Yes, Confessor."

Kahlan shook her head for a moment, there had been a time when the use of her power would have dropped her in exhaustion, now it was not more than a brief spell of tiredness. She turned just in time to deflect a blow that would have taken off her head. She saw that Cara was fighting three men at once, and Richard had seven men surrounding him. Zedd was weaving Wizard's Fire throughout the area trying to defend them as best he could. Suddenly she heard a shout from behind her.

"The Mother Confessor has used her powers, she cannot harm you with her touch, take her!"

With a sudden realization that she had been the main target of this attack she flung herself at a man and stabbed him in the neck before grabbing his sword. She swung it wide, chopping through the arms of a man who was running at her with a net.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw that Zedd and Richard were being drawn farther and farther away from the center of the fray where Kahlan was located, the amount of men surround her seemed endless, her white Confessor's dress was soaked in these men's blood.

Suddenly, Kahlan let out a scream of pain as a rope was thrown over her harms, she could not move as yet another man threw another rope around her; her legs fell from underneath her. As she fell she looked to see the face of man she had confessed, he was dying, he throat torn open by a dagger.

The men were upon her before she could give much thought to anyone else. In her mind she wondered where Richard was, hoping that he would be able to at least get away. The brutes bound her hands and even put abrasive cloth bags over her hands, obviously fearful that she might regain the use of her power.

She felt a little lightheaded and came to the realization that they had shoved a cloth soaked in a chemical, which was sending her to the brink of consciousness. As Kahlan began to ebb into the ether, she suddenly saw a bright light bursting from all around. She knew from experience that it wasn't Wizard's Fire, but something else. As she fell back, she heard someone whisper to her.

"It's going to be alright, I'll protect you."

Before she drifted into unconsciousness, there was another bright flash of light and the sound of a terrifying release of energy, and the screams of panic all around.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Mumbled words broke through the silence of her seclusion, Kahlan woke with a start. She was lying next to a fire, and there seemed to be a hush argument nearby, she wanted to listen, so she feigned sleeping. She heard Zedd talking to a man, whose voice sounded familiar in a way.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who is here to help."

"Yes, we saw that when you appeared out of thin air and began defending the Mother Confessor."

She heard someone stand up to stoke the fire.

"You say that as if it is a bad thing, if I hadn't intervened she could have been captured or worse, killed."

"Be that as it may, that does not mean that we are just going to trust you. When Richard and Cara return from rounding up the rest of the bandits we will assess the situation."

Kahlan stirred, prepared to let the two know that she was awake. She turned over, her sides ached from where the ropes had dug into her skin. She sat up and looked around, Zedd was seated on a tree stump, the stranger was standing nearby, leaning up against a tree.

She stared at him for a moment, he stared right back. His piercing blue eyes felt as though they were penetrating her very soul, few had gazes like that, and even fewer had the power to make a Confessor think twice about crossing a man like that, but so it was. The interesting thing was that the man seemed to be around the same age as herself, mid-twenties.

Finally gaining enough leverage, Kahlan stood. She felt ill at first, probably the remnants of the poison used to subdue her. Zedd stood and helped her stabilize.

"Kahlan, you need rest. Why don't you at least lie back down."

"Thank you Zedd, but I am fine. I would like to greet the man who saved my life."

She brushed off the First Wizard and stepped closer to the mysterious man. She was surprised when he knelt down on one knee and bowed, the traditional way to greet the Mother Confessor of the Midlands.

She held out her hand for him to take. She hardly thought that her part in this traditional greeting was necessary, since he was her age; however, she had her duty.

"Rise my child."

"Thank you, Mother Confessor."

"What is your name, and what is your business here?"

"My name is Aryan Adair. I am a Wizard, and I have come to warn you that there is trouble in Aydindril."

Kahlan stepped back for a moment, only then did she notice that her white Confessor's dress was stained with blood. She looked at Zedd, who seemed to be just as surprised as she was.

"Where do you come from?"

She said it a little more forcefully than she had intended, but did not apologize.

"I come from Aydindril."

"The name Adair sounds familiar. What do your parents do for work."

"Both of my parents are dead."

She watched him closely, his eyes shifted, she decided to brush it aside as feeling uncomfortable about the death of his parents. She turned to Zedd.

"Zedd, where are Richard and Cara?"

"They are out hunting down the last of the bandits who tried to capture you. We are trying to find one that can be brought in alive so that we can find out what this attack was all about."

Aryan stepped forward, pointing a finger at the old Wizard.

"I told you this already, I know why they have come, why they tried to take the Mother Confessor."

Zeddicus looked at the stranger, the flare-up of the boy's temper had obviously sparked something in his mind.

"You have very powerful magic young man. Too powerful for a boy of a mere twenty years of age."

Kahlan watched as Aryan glared at the old man, in an almost familial way. Confessors were good at reading peoples faces and emotions, Kahlan prided herself in being particularly adept at it.

"Wizard Adair, I need you to tell me why those men attacked today, and how they even knew where we were."

The young wizard turned away for a moment, then seemed to realize that the only way that he was telling the truth was to face her directly. Kahlan gazed into those blue eyes, and she felt as though she almost had to look away.

"Those men were sent by a very powerful man in the Old World."

Kahlan looked for a sign from Zeddicus; however, the old man seemed to hold true to his previous stance.

"That simply isn't possible. The Valley of Perdition keeps anyone from coming up from the Old World. The Valley was placed there for that specific reason, to keep the people of the Old World out of the New."

Kahlan could tell that Aryan was getting frustrated by Zedd's lack of understanding. However, it did make sense.

"I'm sorry but I have to agree with Zedd."

"But..."

She cut him off with a glare. She went over to her pack and retrieved her travel clothes, intending to put them on. She felt disgusting, caked blood, most of which was not even hers, stained her. She needed to get clean. Zedd, walked to her.

"Kahlan, I don't think that it is a good idea for you to go off on your own, even for a moment."

She smiled up at the old man as she picked up a waterskin.

"Thank you Zedd, but I will be fine. I just need to get clean."

She could tell that Aryan was watching her, he seemed to be very good at it. She walked a short distance away from the glow of the fire, where she knew that not even the strange wizard could watch her. She began to pull of her white Confessor's dress, it stuck to her in places that had been particularly gory. She ached for Richard to return, to be able to talk with him. Perhaps Richard would have a better idea of what to do about the stranger. She walked back into camp, Aryan was still standing at the same tree, staring into the fire, Zedd was tending the horses picketed not far off. She went back to her pack and placed her dress in. As she stood back up she felt a strange sensation, it reminded her of being in the Wizard's Keep, the feeling of magic. She looked up at Aryan, he was in the exact position as a moment before, he wasn't even blinking then to Zedd. Strangely Zedd was whispering, staring directly at Aryan.

"Zedd what are you doing?"

"I am putting a powerful spell on him to disable him until Richard and Cara return, I do not want him running loose while we are trying to figure this whole mess out. And besides, Cara can subdue him if he is any trouble once they get back."

Kahlan stared at the young man, she still could not shake the feeling that there was something oddly familiar about him.

"How did he manage to stop all of those men?"

Zeddicus looked at Aryan, frozen as he was.

"Well I'm not exactly sure. He appeared out of thin air in a burst of magic the likes of which I have never seen. Then he blasted the men who had captured you with Wizard's Fire, sent a bolt of lightning through several others. It was quite the display, especially for someone as young as he is. He has excellent mastery."

"Do you think he could be a threat to us?"

"I'm not sure, actually. I tried to do a verification spell on his arrival, and it failed, that was unprecedented magic. A constructed spell of some sort. The lightning and Wizard's Fire are ordinary as far as magic is concerned. My intuition tells me there is something more to him."

There was suddenly movement, layers of light began to peel off of Aryan as he shook off the effects of the spell.

"That was quite a powerful web you used Wizard Zorander, but you will have to do better than a disabling spell."

Zedd looked dumbstruck, he started to sputter. Kahlan was unsure whether she should laugh at Zedd or be fearful of what had just happened. Zeddicus stepped toward the boy waving his hands frantically.

"Only a Wizard with powers of the First Order could have undone that web."


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks everyone for the reviews. I'm really enjoying writing this story. Let me know what you think of this chapter, its the last of my pre-written chapters, so it could take a little longer than it has been to update! **

Chapter 3

Six weeks previous:

Aryan felt a jolt as he awoke. He was lying in the middle of a scorched clearing, the trees, grass, plant-life, and from what he could tell, animals, had been obliterated by the blast of pure energy. The problem now was finding clothes and food: because the spell had required him to be pure of worldly possessions, including food, he had been on a week's long purge, and entered the void completely naked.

He stood and examined the area, there would not be an inn or tavern for miles, and the city of Tanimura was still leagues away. As he stretched for a moment, Aryan felt a twinge in his leg, he looked down, he had managed to land in a hawthorn bush and now had several thorns stuck in his leg. With a short spell he removed the thorns, hoping that the wound would not be infected he began walking carefully through the newly cleared field.

After an hour of travel, Aryan stopped at a small brook and took a drink, he wondered when he would manage to find a house or something. Suddenly there was movement behind him, a man dressed in nondescript hunting attire stepped out of the underbrush, he seemed surprised to have come across an unclothed man. Aryan reached for his Han, he summoned it to the surface just in case the man was trouble.

"I apologize if I startled you and interrupted your bath. Just thought I'd get a drink before heading home from a hunt."

Aryan smiled endearingly, and tried to hide himself a bit, he also released his hold on his Han.

"Not a problem, but actually, I was robbed a while back. The bandits stole everything. You wouldn't happen to have anything I could use until I get to the next town?"

The man didn't look taken aback by the revelation, instead he pulled his pack off of his back and began to rummage through it.

"I'm not surprised by your stories. There has been a lot of unrest in the area, bandits trying to make a name for themselves. I've been hearing rumors that the Seeker is up in the New World bring justice to the people, but down here in Old World, no such luck. My name is Finn."

He pulled a pair of brown trousers and a white tunic from his pack.

"Thank you for your kindness, my name is Aryan."

"Its a good thing I was on an overnight hunt, else I wouldn't even have those to give you. Where are you headed anyway?"

Aryan smiled, the kindness of strangers was something that was missing in his time. He pulled the pants and tunic on, the trousers were a little bigger around the waist, but the man held him a length of cord.

"To Tanimura, I need to solicite an audience with the Sisters of the Light."

The man's eyes went wide, he bowed his head in reverence.

"You're a Wizard aren't you. Only Wizards and Sorceress and the like seek out the Sisters."

Aryan looked at the man, something seemed to click into place.

"Of course, you would know that I am a Wizard, because you are one as well, am I to assume that there are Sisters here?"

Finn smiled, as six Sisters of the Light stepped out from amongst the trees. They did not seem hostile and did not have their dacras out, but Aryan reached for his power. Finn stepped forward.

"The Prelate has requested you, I've been waiting for you to arrive in the area, according to scripture that appeared in the Hall of Prophecy last night, a new fork centered around you has changed several events."

Aryan almost laughed. It was exactly as Zedd has said it would be, as soon as he appeared here, he had altered the fabric of prophecy. The Prelate has told him exactly what to say to her past self in order to gain her confidence.

Horses were in a clearing, and after riding hard the entire afternoon, they arrived at the Palace, the group walked into the foyer, the Prelate was standing at the top of the stairs.

"Welcome to the Palace of the Prophets, Aryan Adair. Step forward so that I may speak with you."

Aryan stepped up the stairs and began walking with her.

"Let me show you something."

They walked into what Aryan knew as the Hall of Prophecy. Books sat on tables, and the stone walls featured prophecies as old as time. The one of particular focus was etched into the wall, and seemed to be the newest. He looked carefully at it trying not to show that he had seen it before it was pointed out, but Annalina Aldurren caught his glance.

"You seem familiar with the Hall of Prophecy."

Here hawk-like glare pierced him, just as it had for most of his life.

"Just intuition I suppose."

"And yet you managed to pick out the prophecy that only appeared last night."

She seemed to dismiss it, and walked forward reading the prophecy aloud.

"Through space and time, a thrice blessed child shall arrive by the sign of the Creator's light. With the waning of the seventh moon in the second year of the fall of Rahl, prophecy shall become invalid, should the child not succeed in his quest."

The old Prelate turned to Aryan, a smile that he very much recognized was on her face. She stepped closer.

"Last night, shortly after this prophecy became chiseled on our wall, the most powerful burst of light appeared in the northern sky. That is where they found you, in the center of that blast. You are the thrice-blessed child. What prophecies does this speak of?"

Aryan looked at her, then bowed her head.

"I am the thrice blessed child through my heritage, and yet, I fear that I am going to fail at my quest without you and the other Sister's assistance. I must speak with Sister Nicci in particular."

"Whatever for, I am the Prelate, anything you need I can provide myself."

Aryan smiled and looked at the old woman.

"I come from a time where everything is wrong, nothing worked out the way prophecy intended. This is partially because prophecy was interpretted incorrectly. I need to speak to Sister Nicci, but before that time, I want to speak to you of Richard Rahl."

**Hope you enjoyed and please leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Here is the next installment of my story, sorry it took so long! Hope you enjoy, leave me plenty of feedback! Thanks!**

Chapter 4

Sister Nicci stood gazing out of the window overlooking the men who tended the Gardens of Valor, a gift to the Sisters of the Light from the nymphs of the mountains. To anyone else they would be quite spectacular, to Nicci they were just another example of the corruption of the world of the living. Why did these men toil with such things when there were people starving, dying out beyond these walls. What were these flowers, what was their purpose, could they help the less fortunate. Her thoughts turned to something else, with her Han she could hear that people were outside of her door. She walked back into her sparsely decorated room. Identifying the first voice as the Prelate's graveling tone, the other was a man, whom she was not familiar.

_Sister Nicci is one of our more talented Sorceresses, she comes from a wealthy family in Altur Rang._

_Thank you Prelate, but I already know about Sister Nicci._

_You do? She has not ventured far from these walls for nearly a century, so I doubt you have come into contact with her._

_Where I am from, I have. I know the rest of the way, thanks._

There was much sputtering on the Prelate's part as she was dismissed, but she seemed to comply with this strange man's request. Nicci stood in the center of the room, when the inevitable knock came she waved her hand allowing her Han to open the door.

The man who walked in was not what she was expecting. He was tall and handsome with brown hair a strong jaw-line, piercing gray eyes, and clearly in his early twenties.

"Good evening Sister Nicci, my name is Aryan Adair."

"Clearly we have not been introduced before this moment, and yet you act as though you know me."

She watched his calculating eyes examine her, as he did so, she sent out a tendril of her Han, an exploratory tendril that she hoped would allow her to gauge his power. She was rebuffed rather painfully, she had never before been rebuffed in such a fashion, she was one of the, if not the most powerful of the Sisters. When the man spoke, she examined him more closely, he carried himself like a very disciplined Wizard trainee from the Palace, but she had never encountered him before, and there was not much that went on under the roof of the Palace of the Prophets that Nicci did not know about.

"I must apologize for that. You see, I have quite the story, but there isn't time to tell it all."

She stayed planted in the center of the room. She was going to show this man that she was not a woman to be trifled with. Her thoughts went back to the last time she had ventured outside the Palace walls. The last time a man had underestimated her. The last time he had drawn breath.

"And what gives you the impression that I am the one who needs to hear any part of your story, Master Adair."

She was taken aback by his smile, it was one of strange warmth, she felt her face flush slightly and her breath catch in her chest.

"Sister Nicci, I am from the future. Twenty-two years in the future. A future where we have worked together on many occasions. There is more to me than meets the eye."

Nicci almost laughed. Almost. She hadn't actually laughed in quite some time. The facts did make sense, the new prophecy that arrived on the wall would explain his arrival.

"Prove it."

Again, he smiled. Nicci had to think of other things to keep herself from gasping.

"I know that you are a Sister of the Dark."

In a flash Nicci took a dacra, sending in through the air toward the man, she waited for it plunge into the man, she called forth her Han ready to release it into the dacra and kill the man, but that moment never came. She was surprised to see that her dacra was frozen inches from the man. It dropped to the floor.

"Nicci, please, I'm not here to fight you. I need your help."

Nicci looked at the dacra, no force on earth could repel a dacra, it would slice through all but the strongest magics with no effort. After a momentary pause she collected the energy around her, heat and electricity, with a rush of concentration she sent a powerful bolt of lightning toward him. She was surprised when Aryan held out his hands and seemingly parted the lightning as if it was water, the bolts hit the wall, leaving large gashes in the stone.

Nicci still did not relent, but neither did she directly attack her adversary again. Instead she used this moment as an opportunity to reach into his mind and gauge his Han.

The man stooped down and took up the dacra, flipping it in his hand with a bit of familiarity.

"I know that you have set yourself up to be appointed as one of Richard Rahl's instructors, and that you are having no luck in helping him reach his Han."

Nicci was surprised by this statement, no one outside of the Palace knew of the inner workings of training a Wizard, she had succeeded in gaining Richard's trust, and knew that she was the most powerful of his seven teachers. She had been sure that she of all Sisters would be able to assist him in reaching his Han.

"Richard Rahl is a special case, his Han is different than any that the Sisters of the Light have had to deal with, as I can assume you are aware, even the Sisters of the Dark are not having luck."

"Are you planning on taking his Han if you are unsuccessful."

Nicci masked her look of shock behind a calm facade. She did not lose face as she spoke.

"The Seeker wishes to return to his companions, the Prelate wishes to keep him here against his will. In his best interests I have offered to receive his Han."

"I have come from a time where everything in prophecy went wrong, for everyone, starting with the moment when you took Richard's Han."

Nicci gazed into the gray eyes of the man who was revealing her dark secrets as if they were common knowledge. She turned away from him and walked back to the window.

"Asking me to not attempt to take Richard's Han goes directly against my oaths to the Keeper. I would be tormented for all eternity if I defy an order."

Aryan chuckled.

"Look inside yourself, do you honestly care? Nicci you are a protege of power, you have a stronger Han than any Sorceress here, even before your oaths to the Keeper. Your power is your own, why does someone as strong as yourself need to be bound to those without power?"

Sister Nicci turned from the window looking at Aryan. She walked around him examining him from every angle. These were her deepest desires.

"How do you know so much about me?"

Aryan gazed into the Sister's eyes. So much left unsaid.

"You were my tutor in the future, you taught me everything I know about magic, which is why I knew exactly what you would do to subdue me."

Nicci stopped, looking deep into his eyes, she did not need to be a Confessor to know that he was telling the truth, she gave him a subdued smile, however her mind was working on a plan.

"I will assist you Aryan."

"I need weapons and a horse. I also need white robes."

Nicci smiled, those things were easily gathered, doing it under the close watch of the Prelate.


End file.
